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The Rockets finally got their man, although it took an afternoon and evening of drama before it was confirmed, first by the Lakers and then by Howard with a new picture on his twitter account with an image of himself in a Rockets uniform.

I’ve decided to become a member of the Houston Rockets. I feel its the best place for me and I am excited (cont) http://t.co/h8WK4yP3zB

Earlier in the day, USA Today and others reported that Howard had picked the Rockets but with no confirmation from either team, others reports surfaced on ESPN that Dwight had wavered to 50-50 between the Rockets and Lakers.

The decision comes after the Rockets long pursuit of Howard, beginning by going all-in with roster moves and then all-out with their recruiting pitch, won them the player they have wanted for several seasons of rebuilding.

The deal cannot be official until July 10 when the NBA moratorium on deals is lifted.

Howard chose the Rockets over the Lakers, Warriors, Mavericks and Hawks, with the Warriors seeming to move in as a serious contender when they stepped up trade talks to move contracts necessary to clear the necessary cap room to sign Howard.

Howard will likely earn up to $88 million over four years with the Rockets, depending on a few other minor roster moves and the official salary cap figure to be announced on Wednesday.

The Rockets are not yet in position to offer Howard a max contract, but could likely clear the remaining room without cutting into the remainder of their rotation by waiving James Anderson and Tim Ohlbrecht and either waving Royce White with a “stretch provision” (in which the $1.7 million remaining on his contract would be averaged over three years) or by trading him without taking back salary.

The Rockets could immediately begin steps to fill out the roster around him. They will seek to use a salary cap exception to add a floor-spacing wing. There were talks with free agent forward Josh Smith, but they would need to execute a sign-and-trade agreement with the Hawks to add Smith. It would be a long shot that they could offer the sort of contract that would also net them Smith.

Coming off back surgery, Howard averaged 17.1 points and a league-best 12.4 rebounds last season. He averaged a career-high 14.5 rebounds the previous season in Orlando and averaged better than 20 points per game in four of the previous five seasons.